The police officer entrusted with guarding an arrested nude Hudson River boat joyride suspect has been suspended without pay after allegedly falling asleep and allowing him to escape disguised as a doctor. Stephen Blasetti, 36, sneaked out of New York Presbyterian Hospital in Washington Heights, Manhattan, where he was about to have a psychiatric evaluation following the arrest. He made his cunning escape wearing a physician’s coat, facemask, and no shoes, after reportedly slipping off his cuffs and then sneaking past his police guard while they nodded off, according to WABC. “The incident is under internal review. The officer involved is currently suspended without pay,” a spokesperson for the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, Delaney Kempner, told the Daily Beast. Blasetti was taken into custody after allegedly stealing a boat without any clothes on and taking it for a joyride in the Hudson River. Images published by the New York Post show a nude man, believed to be Blasetti, being escorted by harbour cops along a pontoon, while security camera footage from inside the hospital and the street outside shows him wearing medical garb to make his escape. He was charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, and reckless endangerment.
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